Chasing Pavements
by xtheguiltyonesx
Summary: They first meet when he's ten and she's eight. Growing up they were inseparable until their paths took different routes. Sheldon/Penny AU.
1. Chapter 1

"Sheldon, Tommy Bradshaw is here and wants know if you want to come outside and play."

Sheldon looks up from his computer screen and eyes his twin warily. They both know that Thomas isn't a friend of Sheldon's. After that incident with Ms. Clarke's chicken, Sheldon would have to be incredibly stupid to assume friendship with Thomas.

"What do you want Missy?"

Before Missy can reply, their mother appears behind Missy with an expectant look. Missy rolls her eyes, conveying in that special way that twins can why exactly she asked.

Oh.

Once again, his mother futilely attempts at urging Sheldon to bond with the neighborhood kids. Never mind that the thought of being around Tommy and the kids like him makes Sheldon feel less than enthusiastic.

"Shelly?" his mom prompts.

He shakes his head with finality. Mary sighs but says nothing more. With a resigned nod to Missy, she watches her daughter leave before fixing her gaze on her youngest son. It worries her that he constantly holes himself up in his room with his comic books and science experiments.

She notices his shoulder's tense up. "Mother," he begins irritably.

"Dinner will be ready soon," she says before leaving.

Sheldon nods and continues his work.

Sheldon works uninterrupted for a good hour and half before his neck begins to hurt. He clicks the save button at least twice (last time Missy had been in a vindictive mode and he had lost several hours worth of notes. Maybe using her Easy Bake Oven hadn't been such a good idea).

Looking up from the screen, he gazes out the window, startled to discover he's being stared at. She does not appear to be guilty at being caught. He looks at her in annoyance. She gives him a smile and has the nerve to wave at him.

He doesn't wave back but stares her down.

When he starts to realize that staring her down isn't having any effect on her, she moves away from his line of sight. Huh? Maybe it did work.

He's shutting off his computer when the door bell rings.

He heads down the stairs, pausing when he hears his name.

"Sheldon?"

"Oh, is that his name? I was wondering if maybe he'd like to play? We just moved here and it's kinda boring at home."

He slowly makes his way downstairs, still trying to process the thought that someone actually wants to play with him. Granted, she's new to the neighborhood but that detail doesn't really concern him. Someone specifically asked about Sheldon.

"Mom?"

Mary whirls around and makes what would appear to be an attempt at getting her son to agree to play with this new girl.

"Okay." He says before walking past his mother.

He doesn't notice the smile on his mother's face as she closes the door.

They're standing right in the middle of the imaginary line that separates his front yard from hers.

"I'm Penny."

"I'm Sheldon."

He awkwardly looks at his feet. He's not sure of what he should say now.

"Why me?" he blurts out.

Her nose scrunches up. "What?"

He swallows before answering. "Why did you ask to play with me?"

She shrugs. "You seemed lonely."

He opens his mouth to tell her that he was not lonely before reconsidering that answer. Hmm. Maybe he was lonely after all.

She shows him her tree house in the back yard.

He eyes it critically.

Those branches did not look like they would support the weight of that tree house and their combined weights.

"You wanna go up?"

"No."

She looks confused. She thought that all boys loved tree houses.

"Why not?"

He crosses his arms. "Well, for one thing it doesn't look sturdy at all."

"Sure it is."

He shakes his head.

"Please?"

Her face is all scrunched up and he doesn't like the sound of that 'please'."

He sighs. "Very well."

She grins and reaches for his hand. He flinches and she drops it.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't like people touching me." He waits for the mean laugh and the words 'you're a freak' to happen but surprisingly, they don't. She's just standing there, regarding him in a curious way.

"Oh, well that's fine. Come on!"

And she races towards the ladder.

"Come on Sheldon!" she yells with a smile.

He races towards her with a small smile of her own.

AN: So, I am in love with the idea of an AU Sheldon/Penny fic. So, that's what inspired me to write this. I don't know how many chapters it'll be.

This wasn't beta'd either so all those unnecessary or needed comma's are my mistakes.

Let me know your thoughts.

FYI, Sheldon is ten and Penny is eight.


	2. Chapter 2

For all his wariness regarding the exterior structure of the tree house, he finds himself enjoying the inside. There are several beanbag chairs to choose from (he picks the red one because it matches his Flash t-shirt) and it becomes his spot.

There are several board games such as Monopoly (which he enjoys playing because he always ends up being the banker and having that much control over his sibling's finances makes him feel happy).

Overall, it's not a bad tree house.

"So, why did you move here?"

Penny curls up in her beanbag, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Mom and dad fight a lot so mom decided to come down here for a while."

He can understand the part about parents fighting. His are constantly bickering and his father scares him when he's angry.

"I miss my dad," she murmurs.

And her face becomes scrunched up and really doesn't want her to cry because he doesn't know how to handle crying girls.

She gives him a smile as if to say _don't worry, I won't cry_ and uncurls her legs from her chest.

"What should we do now?"

"Actually, I better go," he says glancing outside the tree house window.

"Oh," she says with a frown.

"Tomorrow I could come over. After I do my homework."

The mention of homework causes Penny to frown again.

"What's wrong?"

"School is tomorrow."

"So?"

"I don't really want to start at a new school tomorrow."

"Well, you could come to the bus stop with me and Missy if you'd like."

"Missy?"

"My sister."

"Thanks Sheldon."

He nods his head in response and heads towards the ladder only to stop and turn around.

"Penny?"

"Yeah?"

"You're alright for a girl."

She smiles and says, "You're alright too. See you tomorrow Sheldon."

He climbs down the ladder and starts to run, stopping in front of the fence, separating backyard from front yard. He turns around and sees Penny waving as she did earlier. This time, he gives her a wave of his own.

* * *

Sheldon cautiously opens his front door, sighing with relief when no screaming can be heard. He peeks into the living room, watching his dad watch football. He frowns when he notices the beer can clutched in one hand. If he were older and stronger, he'd march in there and yank the beer can from his father's grasp, yelling at him for all the tears he's caused mom to produce.

He heads up the stairs when his mother's voice murmurs his name. He looks up and waits for her to yell at him for being late and most definitely missing dinner.

"You were at Penny's the whole time?" she questioned.

"Of course." Where else would he be?

"She seems like a sweet girl."

"She has a pretty cool tree house."

"I'm glad you went out tonight and had some fun. Are you seeing her tomorrow?"

He nods. "Missy and I are going to walk to the bus stop with her. I made a promise."

"I'm glad you and Missy will be with her on her first day. It might be scary for her."

He nods and promises again.

"Well, goodnight Shel-bean."

"Night mom."

She gives him a light kiss on the forehead before heading downstairs.

He makes his way up the remaining stairs and releases an irritated sigh when he finds his sister perched in the middle of his bed.

"Missy, no one is-"

"Allowed in your room. I know that," she says with one of her dramatic eye rolls.

"If you know that, then why are you in here?"

"Where were you?"

"New neighbors," he says pointing next door.

"You actually took it upon yourself to go outside and meet our neighbors?"

"Actually, she more or less took it upon herself to greet me."

"And, it was a girl too? Well, aren't you just full of surprises today."

"Yes, well if you are finished treating me like a criminal, need I remind you that once again, you are in violation of our contract."

"What contract?"

He goes into his closet and produces a folder labeled contracts and shuffles through the papers before yanking a stapled stack of papers out of the folder. He then shows it to Missy.

"This one."

She raises her eyebrows at him.

"I am not reading that."

"Whether you read it or not is not my primary concern. You are still in here against my wishes."

"Okay, I'm just gonna leave now."

"That should have been your intention a long time ago."

"Can't a sister be in her brother's room to have a chat?"

He regards her with an incredulous look.

"Not once, since our arrival from mother's womb have you ever willingly talked to me."

"Okay. Night Sheldon."

He all but pushes her out the door and almost shuts it before saying, "I promised Penny we'd show her the bus stop. Can you please be ready to leave at 7?"

"Yes Sheldon."

"That's 7 on the dot. Not seven oh one or seven oh two but seven."

The only answer is a door being shut.

* * *

The next morning Sheldon is up by six. He takes a shower and pulls out his clothes for the day. Monday's clothes are khaki pants topped off with a bright orange undershirt and his favorite Superman shirt.

He heads into the kitchen, murmuring good morning to his mom.

"Well now, aren't you…bright this morning," she says, taking in the bright blue shirt that clashes with the equally bright orange underneath.

Missy shuffles into the kitchen still in her pajamas.

"What are you doing up so early Sweet pea?"

"Someone thought it'd be nice to set my alarm clock for six-thirty."

She glares at Sheldon.

"Time's a wastin'," he says.

She mumbles something under her breath before grabbing a piece of toast before leaving.

The doorbell rings and Sheldon goes to get it.

Penny grins when he opens the door.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to come by a little bit early."

"Would you like to come in?"

"Sure."

"I'll get Missy."

Sheldon races up the stairs only to return with a girl. She has the same dark hair and blue eyes as her brother.

"Missy, this is Penny."

"Hi," said Penny.

"I heard you invited Shelly to your tree house. I am sorry."

"For what?"

"For whatever nonsense he said. Probably something like 'this doesn't look safe' or 'why does a house need to be in a tree at all?'."

Penny glanced over at Sheldon who looks irritated.

"I didn't mind."

"Hmmph. Well, we'd better be going or Shelly will be yellin at us."

The twins and Penny call out a goodbye to Mary and walk towards the bus stop.

With Sheldon prodding them along they reach the bus stop and Sheldon notices, with a grimace, that Tommy is already there.

"What's wrong?" Penny asks when their steps begin to slow down.

"Oh, Sheldon doesn't like Tommy," replied Missy before walking past them.

They watch as Missy and Tommy talk and laugh.

"Why don't you like him?"

"He's mean. He likes to call me names; none of which are creative in anyway."

"That's not nice."

"I know."

"Well, maybe he won't be mean today."

Sheldon was doubtful but doesn't say any more on the subject.

* * *

The bus arrives ten minutes later and as they line up, Tommy roughly pushes Sheldon out of the way before claiming a spot in line. Sheldon rubs his shoulder where Tommy touched him. Before he can say anything, he catches a glimpse of blonde pigtails walking past him.

"Hey!"

Tommy turns and sees Penny glaring up at him, her little hands clenched into fists.

"What do ya want?"

"He was in line first."

"So?"

"You need to stop pushing Sheldon around."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll make you."

He laughs and turns around.

Penny winks at Sheldon and before he can comprehend what that wink implies, she opens her mouth and begins to cry.

And, boy can she cry.

The bus driver immediately takes control of the situation, demanding an explanation.

Penny, in between fake tears, points at Tommy, saying that he pushed her out of the way and called her names (though the last part isn't true she does make it sound convincing).

Tommy protests but the damage is done.

Giving Tommy a stern lecture, he makes Tommy sit in the front behind the bus driver's seat.

Penny walks by his seat and smirks at his sullen face.

She allows Sheldon to take the window seat before settling next to him.

He is eyeing in her in wonderment. As the bus moves forward, she catches the whisper of his thank you.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for the reviews and favorites. Also, I'd like to point out that this isn't beta'd so those punctuation mistakes are mine. Also, I know that it has been stated that he left school in the fifth grade to go to college but that would be like next year but since this is AU, I'm thinking about pushing it back until he's a bit older so that his friendship with Penny can deepen. If you decide to review, I'd love to know what your thoughts are regarding this. **


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: Does it need saying? If these two were mine, they would have been in a relationship already.**

* * *

When the bus pulled up infront of Poe Elementary, Penny felt weird. She placed a hand against her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Penny?" said Sheldon with alarm.

She opened her eyes to find him pressed tightly against the side of the bus. She could only see the top half of his face because the rest was hidden beneath his shirt.

"You're not getting sick are you?" he asked fearfully.

"No Sheldon. I'm just nervous," she replied trying to calm herself.

He relaxed a little but still kept his shirt above the lower half of his face.

She tightened her grip on her backpack straps and gave Sheldon a smile meant to reassure him.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

They both descended from the bus and Penny kept wishing Sheldon would take her hand or at least show her something resembling comfort.

They walked in silence inside the school and paused before a three-way hallway.

"Well, Penny I hope you day is satisfactory."

"Thank you for walking with me."

"You're welcome."

He turned to leave but Penny saying his name stopped him.

"Will you wait for me after school?"

"Of course," he said and gave her a stiff wave.

And that's how her first day started off.

Penny managed to survive her first day of school. She had lunch with Bernadette Rostenkowski who was in her math class. They bonded over their love of all things pink and glittery. She had an interesting sense of humor that Penny found enjoyable.

"Gosh, today was pretty scary," commented Penny after the lunch bell rang.

"First days usually are," replied Bernadette.

"But I wasn't alone. Well not during my bus ride. Sheldon sat with me."

"Sheldon Cooper?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

"Only a little. We both go to the same church. I'm surprised he sat with you."

"How come?"

"Well, he generally prefers to be alone. I never see him talk or walk with anyone."

"Well we are neighbors so he'd have to talk to me at some point."

"True but-"

"Bernadette?"

Her friend had stopped in the middle of the hall and her face was slightly pink. Penny looked around and only saw a small boy with brown hair wearing a long sleeved shirt and a huge belt buckle attached to his pants.

"Who is that?"

"That's Howard Wolowitz," she replied with a smile.

"Do you like him?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Bright spots of color painted her friends cheeks. "No."

Penny laughed. "Yeah, okay. Well, bye Bernadette."

"Bye Penny," Bernadette said, still staring at Howard.

At the end of the school day, Penny eagerly headed outside, looking for that familiar head of brown hair.

She found him near the flagpole. He was standing all by himself but that didn't seem to bother him at all.

When she got closer, she noticed that his usually neat clothes were wrinkled and his neatly combed hair was messy. Something felt wrong to Penny.

"Sheldon."

"Penny," he replied with a frown.

"What happened?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he replied.

"Sheldon, tell me," she said firmly.

He looked at her for a moment.

"Why should it concern you?"

Penny felt anger and sadness boiling up in here. After all that they had been through – letting him into her tree house, befriending him – he was pushing her away. Her only friend was pushing her away.

"Fine. Don't tell me."

She turned and walked away from him, lest he see the tears brimming in her leaf green eyes.

"Have fun riding by yourself Sheldon Cooper," she yelled.

He watched her retreating figure and wanted to tell her how sorry he was and how it was better this way. But all he could do was watch her leave.

* * *

A:N: There you go. Thank you,everyone, who took the time to inform me of how you wanted the story to play out. We'll wait another year until Sheldon leaves.

So what did everyone think of this?


	4. Chapter 4

She ignored him for the next two days.

At first, he enjoyed the silence but he began to miss her endless questions and high pitched laughter.

He stared at her closed window with the curtains that were parted far enough to show a sliver of light, indicating that she was in her room.

The only thing that kept him from going over to her house was the last thing Tommy said to him before he shoved Sheldon's head under the toilet water.

_If that little liar thought that she could get him into trouble and not expect some sort of consequence then she was in for a surprise. _

Or maybe the swirly was because he was surprised Tommy knew the word 'consequence' and how to use it in a sentence correctly and thus told him so.

It didn't matter. All that mattered was that Penny needn't be subjected to Tommy's brand of bullying.

The curtains twitched and Sheldon focused his gaze on his computer screen.

He ventured a peek and saw her staring at him much like she did the first day she moved here only now she looked annoyed than happy at seeing him.

She made a motion for him to open his window.

"Will you stop starin' at my window," she said.

"I am not staring," he replied defensively.

"Are too," she taunted.

"I was not staring and now I am leaving."

"Sheldon, wait."

"Why did you act like that on Monday?"

"I fail to see how my behavior on Monday differentiated from my previous behavioral patterns."

"Sheldon," she said with irritation.

"Oh very well. I only said and acted like that because I didn't want to see you subjected to the tragedies I have to face."

"You mean Tommy?"

"What other tragedies would I be subjected too?"

"Why is he mean to you?"

"He's intimidated by intellect, as are the rest of the neighborhood hooligans that reside here."

Penny's lips twitched. "I'm sure it is your smartness that makes them scared."

"I don't see any other reason for his hatred."

"Of course not. Well, I have to go to bed because school is tomorrow. Night Sheldon."

She began to close her window before Sheldon's voice stopped her.

"Penny, will you sit with me tomorrow? Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Okay, I will sit with you."

She smiled and shut her window, mouthing good night.

* * *

Okay, next time I update we will be dealing with next year and Sheldon's going to college.


	5. Chapter 5

Whenever a teacher saw their class roster, they would groan, sigh, and moan when they saw Sheldon Cooper as one of their students. Word had spread that this eleven-year-old boy from East Texas had possession of a decent sized intellect. The teachers knew that trying to teach him would prove to be ineffective because he would already know the material.

This decent sized intellect began to pique the interests of several prominent colleges.

His parents (or his mother since his father hardly cared about such matters) were only slightly surprised when Sheldon began receiving numerous packets to colleges in state and out of state.

"Make sure you tell Jesus how thankful you are for him giving you that big brain of yours," his mother said one night.

Sheldon rolled his eyes in response.

Penny, of course, thought that this was not in the least surprising. They were sitting at his dining room table, sharing a plate of brownies.

"It was bound to happen. You are incredibly smart."

"Incredibly doesn't even begin to describe my intelligence."

She rolled her eyes but continued. "I'm sure your family was pleased."

"Mother was. Dad offered what sounded like a grunt of approval and Missy is eagerly counting down the days."

Penny frowned. "I guess me and Missy will be hanging out more. I'm sure I can get her to tell me some embarrassing stories of you."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "I have no embarrassing stories to be told."

Penny took a bite of delicious, gooey chocolate and said, "So Smelly Pooper is just some name someone gave to you?"

He grimaced. "That is just another of those unfortunate circumstances I get living with Missy. She thought the nickname was funny even though I expressly forbade her from using it."

"Hmmm. Well, I don't think you're smelly. In fact, I think you have a very nice smell. It's like clean clothes that have just come out of the dryer and soap. Lots and lots of soap."

"I shower twice a day."

"Really?"

"When I was younger, I was sick half of the time," he explained.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not as if you made me sick."

"I know. It's just that it sounds like you didn't have a great time being a kid."

Mary walked in then and said, "It's getting late Shelly. Why don't you escort Penny home?"

Sheldon nodded and began clearing the table when Mary stopped him.

"It's alright sweetie. I'll do this."

"Bye Mrs. Cooper," Penny said before she left.

"Good bye Penny."

In the dimming sunlight, a boy and a girl trekked across the grass that blanketed their lawns.

Sheldon led her up to her porch and waited until she was safely in her house. Before she shut the door, he said, "Good night Penny."

"Good night Sheldon. Congratulations for the college thing."

He inclined his head and watched her shut her door before heading home.

In the end, he settles on Rice University. Admitted to the graduate studies, he chooses the physics department.

Upon the refusal of a hug, Sheldon accepts a handshake instead from Penny.

"So, we have this summer to do some amazing things."

"Penny, what's wrong?" he asked, alarmed for her green eyes looked bright with tears,

"I wish you weren't leaving, I'm glad you have this opportunity but I'm really going to miss you. You're…you're my best friend," she admits while swiping at her eyes.

Best friend?

Sheldon Lee Cooper was someone's best friend. He felt…he did not know what he felt but then emotions had always been difficult for him.

"I mean, you are annoying most of time when you use these big words or when you think you know everything. However, I do not mind it. Because that's just who you are and I'm okay with that."

And, when she finishes her speech, he does the only thing he feels appropriate for this situation. He stretches out his arms and envelopes her tiny frame in his embrace. It's not smooth. It's all awkward angles and his arms overlap each other.

She is the only person besides his mother, that he's hugged; that he's allowed so much physical contact.

There is a lingering tightness in his chest that developed when she claimed him as her best friend.

He tries to convey the myriad of emotions he is feeling into this rare moment. When he pulls back, she has a huge grin on her face.

"Thank you Sheldon."

"Best friends?"

"Best friends," she agrees firmly.

"Let's go to the tree house so we can start planning our summer activities."

They race across the front yards and into her back yard.

Sheldon dictates the plans and Penny writes them down in a glittery, pink notebook so nothing would be forgotten.

Two days later, a sign hangs from the door of the tree house.

_Sheldon and Penny's tree house._

_Secret knock required to enter._

* * *

Okay, I fibbed a bit. Not college but we're another step in the right direction. _And look at me updating twice in one week. _A few summer-ish things and then he'll go, I promise. I'm not sure how much I will touch on him being in college. Certainly his first week there but I'll probably skip some of it so that he can go home. Unless, you guys will want more stuff on him at college. Feel free to leave suggestions.

Also, everyone should join bigbang_land over at LJ. Link in my profile.


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